Helen Ch 5
#5 of Cadi, Volume 7: Helen
The coming months were fairly peaceful around the island, though they were not spent idly. Tammy worked long and hard at making new N-crystal bracelets so that more people would be able to help fight if needed, while also studying ways of disabling the N-crystals, knowing full well that Zaros' family all had them... and were getting uninterrupted time to practice with them. There was much conversation going around, discussing and sharing tactics for a battle, which would allow them to disable their opponents without killing them, or injuring them too badly.
Robin was hard at work training and drilling those who were interested in learning to help defend Tropico from Zaros and his forces. She made it clear, though, that this was only something that they would use in defense. She was quite entertained that Helen joined the training, taking particular care as she worked with the young tigress. She really was having to learn from scratch, but at the same time, she was a very quick learner, and she brought some interesting new ideas to the game.
Helen, after that first night, sleeping near the window stone, did come to stay at the castle with Robin, though. Robin had gone to quite a lot of trouble preparing a room for Helen, only for the room to not end up really getting used.
The cooks at the castle had made a lovely dinner for everyone to share, welcoming Helen to the community, and the tigress was very tickled by the English food that was provided. It was very different from what she'd been used to back at the temple, but she found that she very much enjoyed it, especially loving the battered fish.
Robin just beamed at her as she was giggling over the food, playing with it as much as she was eating it. "I really like the fish and chips, too. But you should also give one of these a try," she said, holding out a pasty to Helen, who took it and sniffed at it cautiously. When she took a bite, though, she just sank her teeth into the pastry and made a cute little noise of surprise at the meaty filling inside. She didn't recoil and spill any of it, at least.
The desserts were very curious to her, especially the cakes and pies, but as Robin had noticed at the cafe the other day, she was absolutely one for sweets. The fizzy drinks were quite a delight for her, as well, and everybody in the room smiled at the giggles she made when the bubbles tickled her nose. Robin wasn't looking to get her drunk though, as much as she was old enough to drink... but right now, that just didn't feel right to her.
It made everyone in the crew happy to see Robin at the head table with Helen like that. They would never admit to it, but they all worried about Robin a bit over the years. The way that she had thrown herself into her work serving and protecting them without... really taking much of anything for herself had bothered them, and now... getting to see her really enjoying herself was very delightful.
By the end of the feast, though, Helen was a very full, very sleepy tiger, who had snuggled in close against Robin's side at the end there. She'd traded warning looks with several of the members of the crew, Caroline in particular, letting them know what would happen if they went all goo-goo over this in front of her.
So, she just chuckled and sighed when Helen actually started conking out, and helped her up to her feet, wrapping her arm around the tigress' waist to help her out of the room. "Alright, come on, you... let's get you to bed."
That met with no complaint from Helen, who was purring up a storm as Robin walked her to the room that she'd prepared for her. However, that got a complaint from Helen, it seemed. "No... I want cuddles..." she said, pouting up at Robin in a way that made the vixen's heart flutter.
Robin smiled lopsidedly at Helen and chuckled, nodding her head. "Alright, then. Let's head to my room, then. We can cuddle there," she said with a sigh, fully expecting that she would end up needing to sleep on the couch in her room in the end. Still, when they got there, she helped Helen get changed into pajamas before getting changed herself and letting them settle down onto the bed.
The sheets were very nice, as much as she had tried to insist on simpler bedding, but the crew wouldn't hear of it. So, she'd begrudgingly accepted the nicer sheets... and... she never admitted it to anyone, but she really enjoyed them... and from the looks of things... so did Helen, who crawled under them delightedly and looked up at Robin with such a cute look in her eyes that the vixen's heart... died a little, and she just couldn't help but crawl into bed with her, smiling as the tigress let out a little "Yay!" and just cuddled in so nice and tight against Robin.
The vixen... really couldn't find anything to properly complain about, and just wrapped her arms around Helen, breathing softly as she... couldn't help but yawn and just... feel her eyes starting to drift as she had the purring feline cuddled against her.
This was nice... and it wasn't even... anything sexual at all. Honestly, if there had been anything sexual to it, it would have really freaked Robin out. She was a long way from being ready for that. Right now, this was more than enough for her.
And... even after that first night... Helen never really made it to that bedroom... and Robin never fussed, just taking it for granted that she would just have to get used to sharing her bed with a cuddle buddy. She could live with that.
It worked pretty well until one afternoon in April, when Helen and Robin were taking some time off from training. Helen had actually gone to visit Cadi for a little while, grabbing some of Ry's pastries to share with her and Dawn.
She decided to walk back to the castle along the beach, just singing softly to herself as she enjoyed the feel of the soft sand between her toes. She made it about half of the way there before she heard a voice speaking to her. "Well, if it isn't the traitor."
She stopped in her tracks and spun around, staring at Aman in shock. There were no soldiers there with him, so she wasn't able to use the trick she'd learned the other day when Jacob had attacked. She was quite sure that if there was one of her brothers that it would have no effect on, it was Aman... their father's most devoted disciple. "Why are you here? You know that you can't stand against all of the defenders here... so what are you trying?"
He laughed and shook his head, grinning wickedly at her. "I'm here to bring you home, dear sister. And I have a little bit of a peace offering there," he said, holding his hands out as he opened his arms wide. "If you come peacefully, without trying to fight me... which won't work... Father has agreed to show mercy for you."
She scowled at him, glaring into his eyes. "And if I don't?"
He chuckled darkly, "If not... then we'll see how well the 'guardians' of the island do against assassins in the night. Especially that cute little fox that you sleep with. Mmm, never realized that about you... tsk, tsk, tsk... what would Father think?"
She grimaced at that. "Not much of a choice, is it?" She let out a huff, closing her eyes and rubbing them slowly. "Fine. I'll go with you." She grinned up at him after a moment more, "I've missed Lucas and Martin, anyway. Dean, too."
He laughed, taking the implied slight against him in stride, not even acknowledging it. A door opened behind him on the beach before he swept his hand across the sand which seemed to ignite, charring a message into the beach. "Helen is back where she belongs. Enjoy your peace. For now."
Helen sighed and walked past her brother, ignoring his offered hand. She even shoulder-checked him as she walked through while her hand made a gesture, causing a second message to appear behind the door on the beach. Less dramatic, being formed of seashells. It was also much shorter, saying "I'm safe."
She walked through the door, which closed a moment later.
It was a few hours before anyone on Tropico realized that there was anything wrong in the first place.
When it became clear that Helen was missing, they began a search along the coast, since the last that anyone had known, she was returning home along the beach.
When Robin found the messages in the sand, she fell to her knees and screamed... a cry which could be heard for miles along the coast.
A hasty council of war was called at the palace, and everyone was there. "Robin. Robin. I know that you want to attack right away, but that is what they are going to expect. This is bait to draw us out."
Robin was pacing in the room, her tail flicking from side to side as she struggled to breathe. "I can't... we can't... just... leave her there... she betrayed them... and are we expecting them to just... take that in stride?"
Cadi rose and walked right up to Robin, looking into her eyes as she breathed, "You saw her message. She's safe. She wouldn't have left that message if she wasn't sure that she would be safe."
Robin huffed and was doing her best to hold onto the anger because the alternative was tears. She gave a few last, desultory huffs before she fell forward, burying her face in Cadi's chest while she hugged her tightly, screaming as she started to cry.
No one spoke as she let it all out like that. There was no judgment of her for her grief and pain. They had seen just how much Helen had meant to her. They sat there quietly for a time until Robin was finished, and Cadi helped her over to one of the chairs so that she could sit... since continuing to stand wasn't going to work very well for her right now.
Briar took a deep breath. "We need a plan. A solid one."
Tammy was sitting there, concentrating very hard as all of this was going on. "We're forgetting something. Helen knows how to fix the magic that made all of the furs there. She also knows how to break the morale of the soldiers... to steal their will to fight for Zaros. We aren't going to have an army to deal with," she said, looking up at the others. "Zaros thinks that by getting Helen back, he steals our ability to defeat his army so easily... but we know that he's just taken the most dangerous woman in the world to his plans... and put her right where she needs to be."
That got a little bit of a stunned silence from everyone else in the room. "That's a good point," Cadi said, thinking it through. "That just really leaves the family for us to worry about. But, if we go in with our trained forces and the four guardians... we should be able to beat them."
Kestrel breathed and rubbed her forehead. "The only trouble is that we're going to be going against people who will be way more willing to fight ruthlessly than any of us are."
Robin looked up. "Maybe not as much as you think. Helen's been telling me about her family. Aman is the fanatic. He's probably the one who took her. A lot of the other brothers, though... they're going along with Zaros because... well, not going along with him isn't a viable choice for them. The three youngest brothers even defied their father's instructions several times... they're the ones who helped teach Helen how to hunt when she was getting to that age, even when Zaros believed that it wasn't her place to do that."
Kestrel laughed and shook her head, "Yeah... though, I do get the feeling that the one you faced off against when he came to the island is going to want a re-match with you," she said with a smirk.
Robin laughed and shook her head. "If he wants one, he's welcome to one. He's not bad, but he's brash. He likes to show off."
The room had a good laugh at that, even Cadi wiped her eyes a little. "Yeah... Jacob always used to like showing off. Made such a big deal about performing stunts in front of the family... you'd think he would have learned after a while, but I guess he still hasn't."
With that good laugh under their belts, Cadi smiled. "I'm going to stay here." Everyone looked at her with surprise, but she held up her hand. "If there is one thing that we cannot leave, it is the possibility of Zaros trying to use the battle to get to the Window Stone. It is likely that he wouldn't be able to achieve anything if he did, but it is a risk we cannot take. If he gets full hold of Nothing's powers, or worse... another being from that plane, we are not going to stand a chance against him. I need to be the last line of defense against that possibility."
Another somber silence filled the room as everyone digested that, unable to find any fault in what Cadi was saying.
After a while, Robin spoke up, saying, "Right. So... Nothing?" She asked, and a moment later, the shadowy tiger was there in the room with them.
"Yes, Robin?" His tone was pleasant and polite, not bothered that she'd called upon him.
"You left Helen with that... seed, connecting her magic to you. Is there any way that you could visit her in her dreams tonight and let her know that we are going to attack in seven days? That way, she can know how long she has to get things ready. Though, if she says that she needs longer, let us know immediately."
Nothing looked thoughtful at that. "Mmm... yes... that should effectively give me something to use to find her... there won't be much of my magic to be found where she is, and so she'll be quite easy to locate. I will speak to her tonight. Is that all?"
"Yes. Thank you very much, Nothing," Robin said, bowing her head, and the tiger was gone from the room once more. She then looked at the others, making eye contact with each of them. "Alright. So. Seven days. Then we strike. Agreed?"
"Agreed," was the chorus from around the room.
Helen's return to the temple was... uncomfortable, to say the least. Zaros was... way too gracious about her return, putting on a big show for the populace. It didn't take Helen long to understand why, though. The temple was in... rough shape after her months of absence.
The civilians were looking hungrier than they had when she was there, and there were already signs of things falling apart. She was kind of impressed that things had gone downhill that quickly after her departure. It filled her with a curious mix of pride and disgust.
Still, she knew the part she needed to play, if she was going to stay "pardoned" by her father, and she slipped back into her old role. She could feel the relief of the civilians from her return, and she spent the day putting out fires around the temple, helping get people back on track. She even helped at the farms for a bit, using her newfound magic to help deal with some of the maladies that had taken root after her departure.
When she went to bed that night, she was exhausted enough that lacking her cuddle buddy wasn't enough to keep her from passing out.
She quickly retreated to her little grove, needing to curl up in it for a while with the animals to recharge. Not long after she arrived, though, Nothing was there in the dream with her. She quickly pounced on him, hugging him tightly, "Oh thank goodness..."
Nothing laughed and stroked Helen's back gently. "Glad to see you too, kid. Even more so, because I'm able to bring you some good news. They're going to be coming to help you and take down Zaros."
Helen looked relieved. "Good. That'll give me time to get ready. The magic here is so tangled, that it is going to take me about that long to be able to fix it. And, once I do, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to give the entire army... a very unpleasant night's sleep," she said with a laugh.
Nothing grinned at her. "Good. That's my girl. So, for right now, though, just do your best, okay? We're going to make it so that he can't hurt anyone anymore."
Helen smiled at Nothing, sighing softly, "And you can let everyone back at home know that I really am safe here. It seems as though they've finally realized how much they need me in order to keep things running here," she said with a tired laugh. When I'm not mending the magic, I'm going to be working my ass off to fix their mess," she added with a laugh.
Nothing laughed with her and shook his head. "They really don't strike me as... terribly competent administrators around here..." he said with a sigh, "Even just taking a peek around, things here really do seem to be held together with duct tape and shoe strings."
"You're not wrong..." Helen said with a sigh, "I'm looking forward to getting everyone to Tropico."